04.20.09 - Marisa White Bold joins the US Department of Education as Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary, Arne Duncan

In 2004, Marisa White Bold was the first candidate to accept an Education Pioneers Fellowship, joining a nascent and entrepreneurial program. A first year student at Harvard Business School, Marisa was looking to enter the social sector after several years in the private sector. Meeting Scott Morgan seemed fortuitous, and Marisa was "immediately inspired by his vision for the organization, the summer experience, and the sector." In her first few months at Harvard, she had focused on education as an area of work where she could contribute and learn. She had seen the inequities in education first hand through volunteer work and friends and family in the teaching profession, and believed in education as the path of opportunity for all children.

Scott Morgan, who had recently founded Education Pioneers, remembers meeting Marisa in 2004. "I was struck by how she truly exemplified our core values of courage, optimism, collaboration, and action.  She also combined a genuine humility in entering the field with a strong desire to use her skills to make the biggest possible impact."  He says, "Marisa was a true co-creator in helping us take Education Pioneers from a start-up to a national organization.  We continue to benefit from her contributions to our team as we build a national network to transform urban education."

According to Greg Thompson, a fellow Alumnus of the 2004 Bay Area cohort, "Marisa represents the type of talent that Education Pioneers is great at identifying and cultivating. Being successful with education reform efforts requires an artful blend of people skills, policy knowledge, and an understanding of the inner workings of schools. Her ability to dissect and discuss complex issues had an enormous influence on my own thinking and inspired me to want to be in the education field." 

A founding partner organization in the Bay Area, Aspire Public Schools provided Marisa with a summer fellowship; in this role she supported the COO and leadership team in developing organization-wide recommendations for strengthening the culture. In a recent Education Week article ("Best Minds Sought for Central Office, Startups"), Don Shalvey (Founder of Aspire Public Schools) credited Marisa with figuring out how best to build a college-going culture in every school, along with devising the organization's mantra of "College for Certain."

According to Marisa, "The opportunity to learn every day from leaders such as Gloria Lee and Don Shalvey was invaluable and lessons they shared with me inform my work on an ongoing basis. Partners such as Aspire provide an opportunity for Fellows to learn from leaders and innovators with incredible expertise and a focus on student achievement at the heart of everything they do." 

Upon graduation, Marisa sought out opportunities to learn more about entrepreneurship, scale, and sustainability in education reform and was excited to join NewSchools Venture Fund as a Service Leadership Fellow.   Building on skills she developed in the private sector, Marisa focused on data-driven decision making, and supported and learned from school systems nationwide that use information in a cycle of continuous improvement.

After NewSchools, Marisa had the opportunity to help bring these ideas to scale by contributing to the development of the New York City Department of Education's Office of Accountability, focused on evaluative and support tools, data, and research to accelerate learning.   Marisa and her team led a redesign of the Periodic Assessment program, implementing a comprehensive portfolio of interim assessment tools to support data-driven instructional decision-making, collaboration, and sharing of effective practices in order to improve student achievement.  She also hired an Education Pioneers Fellow, Sara Keenan (2007 New York), who developed strategies and new media tools to support and engage educators citywide in the new Periodic Assessment tools.

Last fall, Marisa began volunteering for Obama campaign efforts in Colorado and nationally, supporting members of the Education Policy Committee and an independent initiative called "Barack for Education." She is now a Special Assistant in the Office of the United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

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Education Pioneers spoke with Marisa about her recent work during the campaign and her current work with the U.S. Department of Education.

Marisa's decision to volunteer for Obama campaign efforts was a departure from her original career plans. Education Pioneers asked her to comment on this decision and provide us with highlights from her work on the campaign.

This was such a historic moment in time, and I believed deeply in Barack Obama as a candidate and his approach to education, so I reached out to people who I had developed relationships with over the years and asked if there was a meaningful way I could contribute to the campaign.

I had never been involved in politics, but I love learning new things, and I was hoping to find opportunities to contribute.

When I learned that Jon Schnur (Co-Founder and CEO of New Leaders for New Schools) was taking on a leadership role around the education platform on the campaign, I jumped at the chance to be part of the work. I had the opportunity to go to Colorado and help Jon and Mike Johnston (principal of the Mapleton Expeditionary School of the Arts in Denver and a co-founder of New Leaders for New Schools) behind the scenes with the Education Policy Committee and the Barack for Education initiative. Through a nationwide team (Barack for Education), we focused on engaging the education community by sharing information about Obama's education platform, giving people opportunities to interact with his thought partners and advisors, raising money for the campaign, and connecting people in motivating ways to the Get Out The Vote movement in education, especially in battle ground states.

The idea was that when Obama was (hopefully) elected, people would feel connected and ready to do the hard work ahead.

The team raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in just a few weeks to support the campaign and held events in 15-20 cities to engage undecided and committed voters who are passionate about education. We created opportunities for voters to hear from political, education, non-profit, and business leaders throughout the country, such as Congressman George Miller, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Richard Riley (former Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education), Jon Schnur, Mike Johnston, Linda Darling-Hammond (Professor, Stanford School of Education), and Jason Kamras (2005 National Teacher of the Year).

After supporting a variety of education efforts during the campaign, Marisa was offered a position as Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary. Her role entails involvement on a number of strategic initiatives at the national scale; Education Pioneers asked Marisa to discuss the highest priority items currently on her desk.

The U.S. Department of Education is working hard to support states in this difficult time, both in creating jobs and averting cuts, and in focusing on reform and investment for short and long term impact.  On March 10, 2009, President Obama called on the country to engage in a race to the top in education, and to "reward quality, incentivize excellence, and make a down payment on the success of the next generation." One initiative I've had the opportunity to focus on closely is the Race to the Top Fund, a $4.35 billion competitive grant program that will support states in leading the way toward dramatic improvements in education.  This builds on core reforms emphasized in the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, including improving teacher effectiveness and equitable distribution; making progress toward rigorous college- and career-ready standards and assessments that support teaching and learning; establishing data systems that track progress and foster continuous improvement; and providing intensive support and effective interventions for the lowest-performing schools.

The administration is providing unprecedented investment in exchange for a commitment to transparency, reform, and personal responsibility; we're continuously looking for ways to support educators, parents, students, and all stakeholders in leading the way toward improved student outcomes.

Education Pioneers asked Marisa to reflect on the skills and attitudes that brought her to her current role.

The experiences that Education Pioneers, Aspire, NewSchools, and the NYC Department of Education provided have enabled me to take on this new role.  I am incredibly appreciative of this strong foundation and the ongoing connection to a network of people who are always willing to share innovative ideas, lessons learned, and support each other in this hard and important work.

I feel fortunate to have had the chance to work with and learn from incredible mentors, colleagues, and team members in each organization, and am inspired every day by their talent, dedication, and accomplishments.  I really enjoy learning from and collaborating with others, creating and taking advantage of opportunities, and working with people who push each other to achieve what was previously considered impossible.

In terms of the skills necessary to succeed in the education sector, I think about the Periodic Assessment Team that we built at the NYC Department of Education.

The team embodied an unwavering belief that all children can learn; a passion for reform - whether they had come from education or other sectors - that would help them stay focused and committed even in the face of tough challenges; openness, respect for and ability to learn from people from all different backgrounds and at all different levels; and a focus on creative problem solving, outcomes orientation, and continuous improvement.

The team consistently asked, "What impact would this decision or action have on the classroom? Would this be relevant? Is this going to help educators and students, and what is really needed to implement it effectively?"

The Periodic Assessment team also practiced Education Pioneers' approach of engaging people from a diversity of backgrounds.   We gathered feedback from educators and administrators on what they needed to support and improve student achievement, and engaged internal and external stakeholders throughout the city in designing, selecting, and implementing the tools and programs. This was essential to ensuring the instructional relevance and effective implementation, especially at such a large scale. 

From what I've experienced in the sector thus far, these same skills and attitudes are important at all levels in the education sector, and I'm excited to explore the best ways to contribute at the federal level.

Finally, Education Pioneers asked Marisa to look forward and talk about what brings her to work every day.

The Department of Education is a tremendously exciting place to be right now. The President and Secretary are unwavering in their dedication to education reform that works for kids and educators. As Secretary Duncan said a few weeks ago, we have a "historic opportunity to lay the groundwork for a generation of education reform" and it's inspiring to see people nationwide embracing this moment and driving toward truly transformational change. We have the opportunity to support the scaling of effective models; create a culture of achievement, continuous improvement, innovation, and rigorous evaluation; and use this information to inform actions in all areas of education.  I am excited about doing this work, and contributing to evolving the system so that that all children, regardless of race or economic background, have high quality educational experiences and the opportunity to excel in the 21st century.

Education Pioneers started me on this path and helped me think about the levers for change in education and where I could fit into the landscape. I wake up every day thinking, ‘How can I contribute the most? What do I need to learn to make the greatest impact?'  I've spent every career step exploring these questions and each step without a doubt led me to this opportunity.